Hours and rules
When you take bookings, how long a table is held, and what guests can ask for on their own.
This is where everything else gets decided: the times your public page offers, how long each party holds a table, and how much a guest can arrange without talking to anyone.
It's house policy, so admins only.
Before you start
Change one thing at a time and watch the book afterwards. These settings show up in service, not on the settings screen.
Service hours
A shift is a stretch when the house takes guests: name, days of the week, opening time, closing time, and last seating — the latest you'll take somebody.
You can also cap covers per stretch: how many people you'll take every so many minutes. That's what stops forty people landing at 8:30 and the kitchen going under.
Special days
Closures, holidays and private events. They beat the weekly schedule, so Closed on December 25th wins even if that day has a shift.
A day can be Closed or run Different hours — opening late on New Year's Day, say. The editor only handles what's ahead; days already past are history.
Turn time by party size
How long each party holds a table, as rows: up to 2 people this many minutes, up to 4 that many, and so on. It sets how wide a reservation draws in the book and when a table frees up again.
Online booking
What the public can arrange on its own:
| Setting | What it controls |
|---|---|
| Days ahead | How far out someone can book. |
| Minimum notice | How close to the hour an online booking is still accepted. |
| Slot interval | How often a time is offered: 7:00, 7:15, 7:30… |
| Minimum and maximum party | Set separately for the public and for your own staff. |
| Large parties | Above the online maximum, the page invites a phone call instead of just refusing. |
| Buffer between seatings | Turnaround time. Holds the table without stretching the guest's booking. |
| Wasted seats | How many spare seats a table tolerates. At 2, a party of two won't take the six-top. |
| Confirm automatically | Off, every request waits for someone to look at it. |
| Assign a table automatically | Gives the booking the table that fits it best. You can always move it. |
Double-booked tables
What happens when someone puts two reservations on the same table at the same time: anyone can, with a warning; admins only; or nobody.
Public bookings never double up, whatever you set here.
Running late
After the minutes you set, the reservation is highlighted in the book so somebody decides whether to keep holding or release the table. It never cancels anything on its own.